


James and Sleep

by Foodmoon



Series: Of Tea and Glitter Guns and Cats [4]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond - All Media Types
Genre: Boothroyd is retired, Flashback interspersed with conversation, Friendship, Gen, Implied Relationships, M/M, Mentions of harm and betrayal, Platonic Relationships, Trust, mention of nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-11 16:57:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13528608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foodmoon/pseuds/Foodmoon
Summary: In which Alec is entirely mistaken and the cats defeat 007 quite soundly.





	James and Sleep

**Author's Note:**

> All mistakes are mine.

James _(and yes, he goes by James; introducing himself as Bond is more a way to be remembered as slightly obnoxious so people don’t remember him as an individual quite as much)_ is shocked when Alec suggests that he doesn’t trust Q. At first he thinks Alec is joking. But he’s not a spy for nothing; it takes only seconds to see that Alec actually believes that. Which means a lot of other people probably firmly believe it as well. Which-  
  
Of course he trusts Q. Sure, he’d been a little irritated when a boy had taken over after Boothroyd’s abrupt, unexpected retirement, but that hadn’t lasted. The man came up with the most amazingly useful gadgets and hardware, and kept giving him new ones despite the fact that James, well, couldn’t quite resist using them up.  
  
James levels a cold stare on Alec and _doesn’t deny it._ He should, probably, at least to Alec. But he’s a spy, and he’s caught people in MI-6 selling secrets before. The information that 007 doesn’t trust the Quartermaster and thus the man can’t be used against him is a useful rumor. Very, very useful. Everyone knows that any spy’s weak points are the people they care for, whether friends, family or lovers. And James has a lot of enemies, if they ever figure out who he is. Some of them will. He’s left his real name around enough places that it’s inevitable that a few will. This is why James doesn’t make relationships with people, unless they can take care of themselves, like Alec. Anyone thinking another 00 is a weak spot deserves what’s coming to them. In spades. Darwin’s spade, to be exact.  
  
Of course, as Quartermaster, Q is a target in his own right. Not that Q doesn’t have defenses of his own. His home security system is rather formidable to worm through, and he has a habit of carrying experimental, slightly terrifying little gadgets in his pockets. But if something _should_ happen, well, they’ll only be prepared to face the boffin’s defenses, not for 007 to descend on them with the wrath of a god scorned by his worshipers.  
  
After all-  
  
“Come on, James. He’s not that bad.” Alec cajoles, humor in his tone. “I know he acts like destroyed equipment is the end of the world, but it’s not like he ever tries to stint you on new equipment. And you _do_ manage to destroy even more of your equipment than _even I_ do. You can’t really blame him for that, can you? Not given the amount of work he puts into it.”  
  
James shrugs slightly and huffs. Neither denying nor agreeing.  
  
Though, of course he doesn’t blame Q. The toys are just too much fun or too useful to waste by not using them up. That’s good feedback for the boffin on performance. He makes sure to detail the performances in his reports just to make certain of it. The curious mix of melodramatically heartbroken and huffy rage that his piles of worn out equipment bring to the younger man’s face are just a bonus. It’s a hilarious and endearing expression.  
  
And that was even before James had discovered that Q’s scent lets him relax and sleep without nightmares. The first time had been an accident.  
  
There was a reason James maintained an expensive, high end flat with sound proofing. Given how often he had to seduce enemies for information, he just didn’t sleep well with others around. The slightest sounds would wake him. Unfortunately, in the dead silence of his flat, there was the possibility of spiraling into nightmares with nothing to wake him from them. He wasn’t the sort to wake screaming or toss and turn while moaning, which was a mercy, but they were still unnerving.  
  
It had been one of those nights when sleep wouldn’t come, and even resting his eyes brought dark thoughts. On slightly malicious whim, he’d decided to break into the Quartermaster’s home and see what was in it. It was nothing he hadn’t done to M before on several occasions. Annoying, but nothing harmful, per se. Tracing Q to his flat hadn’t been that difficult. James wasn’t Q section, but he was a spy who had to deal with being walked through unfamiliar computer systems regularly. A challenge, but not difficult.  
  
Breaking in without setting off the traps or alarms had been a little tricky, but still within his skill set. And of course he’d come prepared for the cats and a ‘forgive me’ gift. Honestly. He wasn’t a _barbarian._ After killing some time cleaning and refilling the cat dishes, because he wasn’t entirely sure when Q was due off work next and the cats deserved better than stale remnants, he wandered through the rest of the flat.  
  
There was a laptop full of designs in the living room, hardly safe from any 00, given that they carried around that little program of Q’s for decoding passwords, but probably safe from the average thief. Particularly if one took the security system on the flat into account.  
  
He left the files alone and replaced the laptop exactly where it had been. Most of the designs didn’t seem to be work related anyways. The flat was rather spacious, with a nice WC and a tiny office space that had obviously been relegated to being the cats’ WC. The bedroom was unexpectedly nice as well, with a lovely queen sized bed and a double closet. James had stared rather blankly at the bed until some whim (what imp?) had prompted him to stretch out on one side.  
  
“Jaaames. Are you listening to me?”  
  
He raises a brow at Alec. “No.”  
  
Alec curses with cheerful frustration in Russian. “I don’t know what you have against the kid, but you should be less blatant about it. The Q-techies have a running pool about when you’ll snap and try to harm their dour little overlord.”  
  
James grunts.  
  
“M has a stake in it, too. She doesn’t think you’ll do anything about it.”  
  
“She’s smarter than she looks.” He says mildly, hoping Alec will take the hint.  
  
“Oh, burn! In that case, maybe I’ll throw in a bet too, on M’s side.”  
  
“Are you _trying_ to motivate me to do something?”  
  
“Some friend you are!” Alec grouses. Then drops into a serious tone. “You really aren’t going to harm him?”  
  
James is mortally aware of the fact that he probably isn’t capable of harming the eccentric young Quartermaster, and hasn’t been since the first time he stretched out on Q’s bed for a few moments.  
  
It had been weirdly lulling. And then the cats had jumped up and laid on him, furry weights pinning him more effectively than any rope ever had because he didn’t want to disturb them. He had lain there, staring at the ceiling, immersed in the faint scent that had to be a combination of Q and cats. It was soothing, and he’d gradually drifted off into an odd, serene sleep without even noticing.  
  
A frightened male scream woke him. Sort of. Gaining consciousness was peculiarly hard, and the sight of Q standing there looking like he’d just seen the devil didn’t actually do anything to encourage wakefulness. His brain was too fuzzy to register how odd _that_ was until later.  
  
_“What are you doing here!?”_ Q demanded, well, croaked if he was honest _(which he won't be, because James is a gentleman)._ Still, James gave him points for effort. And it was not like it was an unreasonable reaction to finding someone unexpected in one’s bed. James probably would’ve shot the person on reflex if he’d been as startled as Q obviously was.  
  
“Sleeping.” James grumbled, irritated at being woken to be asked the obvious. Sleep never came as much as he wanted it to. He managed _(or thinks he probably did, at least)_ to say something about ‘tea’ and ‘kitchen’ (because if anything would calm the boy down it would be tea). But then it didn’t matter much whether he did or not, because sleep pulled his eyelids down again. And he was vaguely aware of the boffin’s breath slowly evening out, before he was gone, lost again in a mercifully dreamless sleep. When he woke early the next morning, James was startled at how well he’d slept, and more than a little impressed that Q had overcome his obvious fear enough that he was stretched out beside him, dead asleep.  
  
Yeah, he was sunk. Hook, line and sinker. All for a whim.  
  
“No.” James says.  
  
And his grumpy tone is utterly sincere. In all honesty, he can’t think of any reason under the sun, short of Q inexplicably turning treason against Queen and Country, that he’d ever be even the _**slightest bit willing**_ to harm the one person whose presence doesn’t disturb his sleep, and whose scent _(and cats, James isn’t quite convinced that the cats aren’t a large part of it; he’s calculated that they have a high probability of being dream eating demons)_ allows him to sleep without nightmares.  
  
The rumor might be useful, but James is still baffled that anyone could think that his trust for the boffin is anything less than unconditional. It’s so obvious to him, that it makes _no sense at all_ how no one else has apparently noticed. Not even Alec. Who is also a 00, and more than a little observant.  
  
“Huh. Well, at least there’s that.” Alec says in undisguised relief.  
  
Yes, there is that.

**Author's Note:**

> Formatting kicks my ass.  
> James' philosophy is a bit wider than Horatio's. He's also a maniac who takes great glee in seeing how much use he can get out of Q's gadgets and other equipment before they suffer fatal meltdowns.  
> Editing comments are fine, but please be gentle.  
> I know it's rough, no need to tell me.  
> Kudos and comments are welcome.


End file.
